National Gallery 
Took advantage of a beautiful cool day to ride down to the National Gallery to see the latest exhibits. I've always been a fan of the work of Edward Hopper, well known for his somber urban paintings like Night Hawks. They capture the feeling of urban loneliness perfectly. Even though most were painted over 50 years ago, they still resonate. He was a representational artists during a time when abstract art was the rage.

I also enjoy his watercolors, especially those done during the summer when he visited Gloucester and Cape Code, Mass. His were not typical beach scenes. Many were of old Victorian houses and various street scenes rendered in beautiful colors. They are much lighter in tone than the urban paintings. His paintings of light houses were some of his best.

I happened to notice that the painting that I liked the most, an oil painting entitled Captain Upton's House (above), is owned by Steve Martin. Later as I watched the film about Hopper's life I realized that Martin was the narrator. He has an extensive art collection.

I also visited the J.M.W. Turner exhibit. He made some wonderful paintings that explode on the canvas. He's a unique painter who must have been a bit mad, creating wild expressionist paintings before there was such a thing.

This is one of those times when it's easy to spend the day at the National Gallery. Other exhibits included prints by Robert Rauschenberg and a collection of snapshots, The Art of the American Snapshot, 1888–1978. And finally, a great collection of woodcut prints in The Baroque Woodcut which includes prints by Titian, Albrecht Dürer, Giuseppe Scolari and Peter Paul Rubens.
posted by Bruce Wright at 4:14 PM #